


Stay

by nonotwithoutyou



Series: Please Always Stay [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier - Fandom, marvel movies
Genre: A/B/O, Alpha Steve Rogers, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Endgame Fix-It, Eventual Happy Ending, Lack of Communication, M/M, Male Lactation, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Omega Bucky Barnes, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), post Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-03-26 19:47:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19012648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonotwithoutyou/pseuds/nonotwithoutyou
Summary: Things are not easy when your best friend used to be your Alpha. Things are much harder when your best friend wants to go back in time to get his happy ending without you and you just want him to stay, but he doesn't.





	1. I try to live without you

_“Well_ **_I try to live without you_ **

_the tears fall from my eyes_

_I’m alone and I feel empty_

_God I’m torn apart inside”_

 

Quick fact, Omegas knew before everyone else when they were carrying, they would feel the small and steady heartbeat of their pups since they started beating, letting their mothers know they were on their way.

 

     Bucky felt it for the first time back in 1938. He woke up to the faint sound one morning and threw up two seconds later, just like he had been doing for the past weeks. Steve was there to brush the hair away from his forehead and give him a glass of water, his blue eyes asking the silent question while doing it. He nodded slowly, biting his bottom lip and swallowing the knot on his throat.

 

They panicked for a while, talking about how to get better jobs to provide for it, for their pup, the one they didn’t plan on having but already loved. However, all plans were suddenly dropped when Steve came back home one day, to find Bucky curled up on the bed, crying and murmuring about not feeling the heartbeat anymore.

 

_“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I don’t feel it anymore… it’s gone… I’m so sorry.”_

 

The doctor confirmed it that same day. He explained that miscarriages were normal in the first three months, trying to ease the pain reflected in the two sets of eyes that were on him.

 

 

     The second time it was after he was drafted, but decided not to tell Steve. He regretted that decision at his departure but thanked himself when two weeks later the beating stopped, again. A young nurse looked at him with pure sadness while delivering him the news he already knew, she even asked if he needed a hug when she noticed his eyes fill with tears.

 

A pair of blond and blue-eyed pups invaded his dreams when Hydra captured him. He would cry and scream once he woke up, half of it because of the physical pain Hydra induced him to, and another half because of the mental, psychological pain it caused him to see his two beautiful unborn pups, fully knowing he was never going to hold them, kiss their chubby cheeks and hear them call Steve their Dada.

 

Steve joined the war as Captain America later on, and with all the attention he was getting, Bucky decided to let him live his life and date more people. Well, at least that’s what he told him, the truth was different. Bucky thought he was a damaged Omega, one incapable of incubating pups, one that failed twice to fathered the Alpha he had loved since he was fifteen years old, he _had_ to let him go.

 

He believed Steve deserved to find a perfect Omega, one that could give him the big family he wanted to have, he could be the favorite uncle of his best friend’s pups then. So he watched from the shadows how his relationship with Peggy Carter developed, playing the best friend and sidekick role until he fell off the train.

 

     The third time though was the worst.

 

Bucky always thought the third time was the charm, it had worked for him his entire life. But he also knew that bad luck was behind him, waiting to surprise him here and there. And this time, the third and the precious charm, were victims of his bad luck, too.

 

They were in Wakanda when he and Steve reunited one night in the Palace. Steve had been there for a short visit, and the next time he saw him, a month later, was when Thanos threatened the world and he was dusted from life. Then Bucky woke up five years into the future, with Sam pulling him up the ground, saying some shit about the time that had passed and that Dr. Strange was getting his friends to open portals for everyone to join the final battle against the mad titan.

 

Luckily it wasn’t in that moment that the pup decided to let him know of its existence. It was when Steve was getting ready to bring back the stones to their respective timelines.

 

Bucky hadn’t felt weird or nauseated like the other two times, he was definitely not expecting it, damn it, they had even worn protection. Yet, there it was, the fast _thump_ sounding loud on his body, his pup’s way of telling him that he or she was growing inside him. He tried to keep himself together while Bruce and Steve talked about how many Pym particles he had, what he was supposed to do to not fuck things up and how not to skip the last jump.

 

The thing is that he was informed of Steve’s plan by Steve himself, he knew the love of his life wasn’t coming back, and his heart sunk in his chest. He calculated the two possible outcomes of the pregnancy in the blink of an eye. In the first, the beating was going to stop sometime during the following weeks, leaving him feeling empty and crying for his third lost pup as he had done with the other two. In the second, his pup was going to be born and grow up without his dad, only seeing pictures of him. Bucky didn’t know which option hurt him the most. And at the same time, he instantly remembered he couldn’t deny Steve the happiness he wanted, the one he was denied to have 80 years ago, the one Bucky himself had offered him when he told him it was better to go back to be friends.

 

So when he came up to him to hug him, he swallowed down the tears and hugged him back, letting his scent fills his nose one last time, trying to store in his memory how it was like to be in his arms and, selfishly, begging internally for him to change his mind on the staying in the past thing.

 

 _“I’m gonna miss you,_ ” Bucky said in the middle of the hug.

 

_“I’m gonna miss you, too, Buck.”_

 

Those weren't his last words to him, he then told him that everything was going to be ok, when Bucky knew it wasn't going to like that, at least not to him. Steve was on the platform when Bucky’s eyes filled with tears again, and before they could roll down his cheeks, he found himself muttering three words he had said a few times in 1938, and one time in 1943, right after the Army’s ship sailed and Steve’s form got smaller and smaller.

 

_“We love you.”_

 

He was looking at him but Bucky was sure he didn’t listen, and a second later, Steve, the briefcase and Mjolnir were gone.

 

One second.

 

“ _Please Stevie, be safe, please…”_

 

Two seconds.

 

“ _C’mon, punk, surprise us, come back…”_

 

Three seconds.

 

_“Steve, please, come back…”_

 

Four seconds.

 

“ _Please, c’mon, please…”_

 

Five seconds.

 

_“We need you, Stevie, we need you, please…”_

 

Six seconds.

 

Bruce started to press at the buttons with his good hand, Sam was yelling at him to bring Steve back and the second became seconds, then minutes. Bucky couldn’t hold it anymore. His knees touched the ground as his hands covered his face to prevent the others from seeing him cry. He heard Sam cursing and his fast footsteps approaching to kneel by his side and hug him with tears of his own.

 

Steve didn’t come back.

 


	2. I miss you, I need you

_“Time keeps slipping by_

_And If I could have just one wish_

_I’d have you by my side_

_Oh,_ **_I miss you_ **

_Oh,_ **_I need you_ ** _”_

 

 

Bucky went back to Wakanda the same day he lost Steve, after checking a hundred times if Sam was ok with that, that he didn’t need any extra help with getting things together. Sam, God bless him, assured him that things were going to be quiet for a while, but was going to ask for his help if the time ever came.

 

So Bucky boarded the jet with T’Challa, Ramonda, Okoye, and Shuri and left. They took him in like they had done before, but this time Shuri didn’t let him go back to his hut, she knew how he was feeling and was afraid of what Bucky could do. Instead, she took him out for lunch, show him her latest projects, and even got Nakia involved with the mission of helping him mourn Steve. Shuri truly acted like the Alpha she was, protecting him and trying to make him feel better.

 

Four months posterior to the reverse snap happening, Bucky was in front of the full-length mirror, freshly shaved and showered, watching his profile and caressing his stomach. The beating hadn’t stopped. It actually grew stronger with time, and now at almost 5 months of being pregnant —if his math wasn’t wrong—, there it was, the sight he never got to see with the previous pregnancies, the bump. His abs had been keeping it from appearing before, thanks to that and strong anti-scents soaps he was able to hide it from the rest.

 

He remembered how obsessed Steve was with his scent the first time, he was incapable of spending more than two minutes without having to bury his nose on Bucky’s neck, telling him how sweeter and lovely he smelled. He also remembered his hands on his still flat stomach at night, patiently waiting for time to pass until they could feel their pup grow and maybe kick. After the miscarriage, Bucky had banned Steve from putting his hands on his stomach, except for his last night in New York before joining the war.

 

As for the last pregnancy, he put his own hands on his belly while silently crying in a thin hospital bed in England, curled up in a ball and hoping earth would swallow him. Bucky believed he was going to do the same in Wakanda, but instead of that, he was actually feeling his pup grow, feeling it with his hands in the roundness of the bump.

 

He was blessed with what it felt like an already healthy pup and he didn’t want to take any more risks. He told Shuri that morning. She hugged him tight with a huge smile at the sparkle in Bucky’s eyes, she congratulated him and offered him to take him to her doctor to get checked.

 

Back then technology wasn’t the best, and all Omegas had were midwives or doctors to do routine check-ups on them, to feel the pup and try to tell them if everything was alright. Now, Bucky was helped to half lay in a very comfy gurney at the doctor’s office, and the nice lady had told him to uncover his stomach to apply some kind of cold gel in it. Then the lights were turned off, the wand on his belly moved, the black and grey image changed because of the new angle and… oh, the pup was there. He teared up at the clear silhouette he saw on the screen, a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips and Shuri squeezed his hand.

 

“I can see that there’s only one pup… and looks like you’re almost halfway there, Bucky,” the nice lady said. “According to its length, the pup is 19 weeks and 5 days, congratulations!”

 

“Thanks…” he muttered, not quite believing that it was happening, the pup had survived all that time inside him.

 

“Let me hear the heartbeat before continuing with the rest.”

 

He knew the sound by heart, but his eyes got wetter when the sound filled the room, and despite Steve’s decision, he wished he was there to hear it, too. The scan continued as normal, the picture changed to a full 4D image for better testing and Bucky cried in silence when he saw the pup’s little face.

 

The doctor could tell the gender, but Bucky decided to wait till the next one to get used to the idea of being pregnant again, and that this time everything wasgoing to work out for them.

 

 

The next time he wasn’t just with Shuri. Ramonda and Nakia were there with him, impatiently waiting for the doctor to tell them the gender of the 24-week pup that they were all looking forward to meeting.

 

“Well, I’m happy to tell you that is a very healthy baby _boy!”_

 

The women erupted in laughs, tears and cheers immediately. Bucky smiled wide watching the screen, wishing once again that Steve was there, holding his hand, kissing his forehead and crying like he was. But he wasn’t, so he celebrated with the people that did.

 

 

At week 28 Bucky was worried. He didn’t feel much movement from the pup, what ended up on him getting checked every day with a fetal doppler to control the heartbeat of his developing baby.

 

“Do you speak to the pup?” the nurse from that day asked him after checking and hearing that the heart was perfect.

 

“Hmmm, no, not much,” Bucky admitted almost embarrassed.

 

“Why don’t you try? It doesn’t have to be you, if you’re not comfortable with that, maybe your Alpha can do it!” she said sweetly, Bucky’s heart broke a little. “Rubbing your belly and talking to the pup may help him move,” she continued saying, “sometimes pups are shy, the parents just need to warm them up from the outside to get them to kick.”

 

Bucky came back to the Palace with the advice on his mind. He always had his hands on his stomach but never actually talked to the pup, the experience was still so unreal for him that maybe he was going to believe it once his son was on his arms.

 

A couple of nights later Bucky was comfortably watching Brooklyn 99, rubbing coconut oil on his belly to prevent stretch marks and the words of the nurse fresh on his memory. He sighed, bit his lip and started to draw lines on his stretched skin.

 

“Hi-hi puppy… I’m your dad,” he started to say nervously. “I-I’m sorry I haven’t talked much… I’m still trying to believe that you’re here, you know? I’m getting used to you growing and getting ready to meet the world… but don’t worry, it doesn’t mean I’m not ready to welcome you…” Bucky smiled down at his bump. “I actually can’t wait to meet you, to have you crying in my arms, to see who you look like and protect you… you are and are gonna be so loved, my cute pup.”

 

Despite the every night rubbing and words Bucky said to his pup, nothing happened for weeks. Until one day he decided to listen to one of Sam’s advice, because yes, Sam Wilson had gone all protective uncle and read all the books about pregnancy he could find. He sent the books already read to Bucky, with post-its to highlight information he considered important. But that wasn’t the only thing he sent.

 

The new Avengers were back at the old tower that had the Stark Industries labs and offices, but the top floors were being used by them, like before moving to the compound. As Steve never fully moved from his old apartment at the tower to the compound, there were items of clothes left in there, that Sam sent him, with the full explanation that the scent of the sire could calm both the carrying Omega and the pup in moments of distress or when they both needed to relax.

 

This particular night Bucky opened the box of Steve things and took out a bottom-up shirt to help him sleep. His smell hurt him, yes, but it also made him feel better, lighter. The fabric was opened on the bump, his hands were slowly moving there to get the oil to absorb, his lips whispering how he had met Steve when they were kids.

Without expecting it, a slight pain made him flinch. He rubbed the particular zone again and got the same response, a small piece of skin rose to the surface, and then full movement. What he felt wasn’t just a little action that indicated the pup was comfortable, no, what Bucky felt was a full kick. His eyes were suddenly glossy and a smile adorned his lips.

 

“There you are… hi, hi puppy,” he greeted, “I finally got to wake you, didn’t I?”

 

Sam had smiled sadly and happily at him when he told him what caused the pup to move for the first time, then exclaimed a loud “Told ya so!” much to Bucky’s amusement, that finally thanked him for the help.

 

Also, the daily check-ups were slowly replaced by weekly ones, Bucky felt his pup moving every day and was no longer in a panic that something was wrong. 

 

 

Bucky’s own new apartment not far from the Palace was being furnished and getting ready for the moment he moved before the due date. Unfortunately, by week 38 Bucky had an emergency c-section due to the lack of enough dilation after his water broke and spending two days in labor. With Shuri’s hand on his, and tears falling to the corner of his eyes, he listened to his son’s first cry on a December Sunday night.

 

Bathandwa Lucas Barnes was all pinky, loud and beautiful, with a puff of golden hair on his head. 

 

His daddy was able to hold him for the first time a couple of minutes later he was born, in the room they were assigned to stay at in the hospital. Bucky was left alone at his own request, he wanted some minutes alone with his baby boy.

 

Bucky wasn’t wearing the hospital gown, so he took his pup and slowly detangled him from his burrito style wrap to put him on his chest, covering him with the same blanket to give him extra heat. Feeling his pup’s body on him made him tear up and realize that he was there, alive and breathing.

 

Lucas eyes were open, examining his new surroundings and then his daddy’s face, that was looking at him with adoration, a lovingly smile on his face and talking to him in whispers.

 

“My little boy…” he said caressing his tender cheek, voice trembling, “you’re so cute, you know that? And with your dada’s hair, huh?” he pulled up the rainbow colored hat from his head to make sure he had seen correctly at the hair color back in the delivery room, and put it back with a kiss to his forehead, a suspicion confirmed. “I can’t believe you’re here, finally…” Bucky’s tears did nothing to not to come out at the sight in front of him, he took a deep breath and kissed his boy’s cheeks. “I’ve waited so long to have you in my arms, Lucas. I asked for you a long time ago, my little pup, and you have arrived now, yes you have…,” he smiled at him when Lucas moved his small hands, wailed and tried to move in his hold. “What’s the matter, baby? Are you hungry?”

 

Bucky didn’t know how he did it, but he got Lucas to latch on his nipple without help, he just sighed and got comfortable against the pillows, watching his pup feed for the first time. He couldn’t help but smile, he had dreamed so much about that exact moment, the moment where his newborn pup was skin to skin with him, nursing peacefully and breathing steadily. However, there was a person missing to the picture, but that person had made his own choice a few months back and there was nothing they could do to change it.

 

“I hope my love is enough for you, because I love you, didn’t I tell ya that yet? I love you, Lucas, daddy loves you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I just wanted to thank you for your comments and kudos, I found myself smiling at my phone every time I got an email saying that there were new ones on the previous chapter!
> 
> Also, I edited chapter 1 because I uploaded it in an attack of confidence without actually checking for mistakes made thanks to the autocorrector or my lack of memory lol but don't worry! I only edited word typos, not the plot or anything like that (?
> 
> Don't forget you can follow me on tumblr, I do not upload my writing but I do reblog a lot e.e / nonotwithoutyoubuck
> 
> That's it! I hope you all have a nice day and hope to see you on the next one!
> 
> Kisses,  
> Fab.


	3. It's good to hear your voice

_“ **It's**_ **_good to hear your voice_ **

_I hope you’re doing fine”_

 

 

Lucas was five months old and Bucky’s life was getting on track. He spent most of his time taking care of his pup and Nakia had offered him a job —that he accepted— in the Hatut Zeraze, the Wakandan intelligence division. So he was able to get a salary, pay for his own things and Lucas’s while balancing work and daddy duty.

 

There was no one that wasn’t in love with his baby boy, he was a cheery pup, always smiling, willing to let people making him laugh, observing with curiosity everything that was put in front oh his blue eyes, the ones he had inherited from his dada, like his blond hair. His health was normal, not enhanced and not weak, that was two of Bucky’s fears. If Lucas was enhanced he would’ve dealt with it, but he would’ve been risked to be used as a soldier, and if he was weak like Steve had been before the serum, he would’ve dealt with it, just like Sarah Rogers had done. Luckily, Lucas was as average as a pup could be and Bucky couldn’t be happier.

 

It was on one of his free Saturdays that he got _the_ call from Sam. The first thing that called his attention was that it was an actual call, and not a video like Sam used to do to contact him to see his favorite nephew.

 

“Dude, when can you come to New York?” Sam asked right away.

 

“Errr… I dunno, why? Something happened?”

 

“Buck… get here as soon as you can, please, there’s something you need to see.”

 

“You’re scaring me but ok? I’ll go.”

 

Bucky had no idea on what to take or not, making him ran to Shuri and Nakia for help, and they did help him pack for the trip. As he didn’t want to be alone with Lucas outside Wakanda, he asked them if they would like to go with them, which they agreed to quickly, they didn’t want their favorite white boys to be alone outside the borders. That’s why Shuri and Nakia were at Bucky’s sides once the jet landed at the old Avengers tower, which was now being used as the new quarters until the compound was fully rebuilt.

 

Sam almost lost it when saw Lucas sleeping on his daddy’s arms. He had seen him through pictures and video calls but seeing him in person had him weeping a little bit, especially at the moment when Bucky let him hold him. He showed them around and their rooms without letting go of his nephew until Lucas woke up and whined for Bucky.

 

They left him in his room to nurse Lucas comfortably on the bed, Bucky watching him like it was the first time and caressing his face to make him smile. After a while he stood up to see New York from his window, telling Lucas that it wasn’t his hometown but that he had lived there most of his life, protecting his Alpha friend from getting in trouble and falling in love with him as well. He promised that they were going to take walks in Central Park, go to Staten Island and walk the High Line, a place Bucky had only seen in pictures, to take advantage of the Summer weather that June was offering.

 

When Lucas was taking his post-meal nap, Bucky walked out the room of the apartment Sam had put them in, and saw Peter Parker talking with Nakia. Shuri had met him in Tony’s funeral and spite the bad timing, they exchanged numbers and were now close friends. They had lunch with Peter in the kitchen, just when Lucas woke up and met his new friend Pete, that was amazed by him like he was the only pup in the world.

 

Taking a look around Bucky noticed that the entire place had been cleaned professionally, but when he was in the elevator to Sam’s apartment, he could faintly smell Steve’s scent. Of course he could, he had lived there before moving to the compound, and he had spent enough time with him in the past to not recognize it. Besides, there was a little of Steve’s scent in his life every day with the things that Sam had sent him. Bucky sighed shallowing down the tears that attempted to appear, he hoped that, whenever he was, Steve was happy and living his best life, making his time apart from his own son worth.

 

“Hey man, did the girls stay with the puppy?” Sam greeted him.

 

“Just Nakia, Shuri went out with Peter.”

 

“Oh yeah, he was bouncing on the walls when I told him she was coming. Like, literally dude, don’t forget he can stick to walls. Scared the shit of out me the first time he said hi to me from the ceiling,” Bucky let out a loud laugh at the sudden confession and noted to congratulate Peter for it.

 

Sam made conversation quickly with him, but Bucky realized he was stalling about two minutes later. He let him talk though, see how far his friend was willing to go to avoid what he had to say to him. The record was finally broken at one hour and six minutes.

 

“Ok, I need to tell you why I wanted you to come here.”

 

“About fucking time,” Bucky said. “C’ mon, spit it.”

 

“There’s… something… well, actually someone in the med floor that I thought you will want to see.”

 

“Med floor? Is Wanda hurt? I haven’t seen her yet…”

 

“No, no, no one’s hurt… but, yeah man, you gotta see it with your own eyes.” He sounded serious, and Sam was never serious unless it was during a mission. Bucky nodded and they went back to the elevator, feeling anxious for what Sam had to show him that was so important he had to fly to NYC to see it.

 

Peter and Shuri were back from their lunch and were hanging on that floor’s private lab, working on perfecting Peter’s web shooters. However, they decided to tag along with them, they already knew what was behind the PERSONNEL ONLY door that Sam was leading Bucky to.

 

That mysterious door lead to a few rooms that were empty, except for one. There was a tinted glass and a door that Sam opened, leaving them in the hallway.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Bucky asked Peter.

 

“Uh… Mr. Bucky, sir, Sam is going to clear the glass and… hmmm.. Shuri?”

 

“Before throwing the news at you, Sam wants you to see who’s inside to let you decide if you want to enter to see _him_ or not,” she explained taking his hand.

 

Right after she said that, the glass started to clear, allowing them to see the room, that was a normal hospital one, with an occupied bed in the center.

 

Bucky had seen everything at his over hundred years walking the Earth and a few months as a dad, but nothing trained or prepared him to see who was in that particular room of the Tower. There, injured but not horrible so, blond hair just a little longer than the last time, looking tired and sleepy, was _Steve_.

 

“ _Where’s Bucky?_ ” he asked loud enough for him to hear from outside.

 

Bucky was thankful he had left Lucas with Nakia downstairs and thankful that Peter was behind him when his body went numb. “Oh my God! Mr. Winter?! Are you ok?!”

 

Sam heard the commotion and ran out of the room to find Spider-boy and Bucky breathing in and out al the same time, Peter was clearly leading the way and trying to calm down the super soldier. Shuri was beside him, not crowding him and leaving Peter to do what he was doing.

 

“What… how… oh my God,” Bucky said, hands shaking and voice panting. “Oh my God, is that… is that… oh my God.”

 

“He showed up at Pepper’s cabin two days ago,” Sam said, “wearing the quantum suit and all, then pass out on her couch, she called us freaking out and we brought him here, he woke up just to ask for you and then went back to sleep.”

 

“Two days ago?”

 

“Yes…” Peter answered, “he had been sleeping, Mr. White Wolf, we know nothing about what happen or how he got to Pepper’s place… we were hoping that your presence may help him recover.”

 

“I-I can’t,” he whispered back, tears approaching the way out of his eyes, everyone looked at him like he was growing a second head. “I can’t… I can’t, I’m sorry.” And with that, he walked out, warm tears on his cheeks and a hand over his lips.

 

Steve had come back.


	4. My heart would stop without you

“ _You’re the one that I hold onto_

 **_‘_** _cause_ **_my heart would stop without you_** _”_

 

 

It took Bucky three days to decide to go see Steve. Three days full of questions, of possible answers, of schematics in his head, of calculating probabilities, of so many things that made him feel confused and sad and happy and excited and anxious. He even tried to pack their things and go back to Wakanda until Nakia stopped him, hugged him and made him talk about the why of his reaction. He would've tried to lock himself in his room if it wasn't for Lucas. Oh, Lucas. He could tell his daddy's discomfort and distress and had been really fussy because of that since Bucky came back to the apartment in tears, he only wanted to be held by him, sleep with him and practically be attached to his hip if that was possible.  

 

Bucky’s reason for the overthinking days was simple. Steve was going back to Peggy, he chose her and not him, not their friendship, the one they had since childhood. He was going to stay with her in their timeline, live happily ever after, and Bucky was supposed to stay in this timeline, losing or raising their pup and re-making his life, _alone_. But then he thought of Lucas, the pup he never believed he was going to have, and Steve, the Alpha that was supposed to stay away. Both of them were related, and he hated growing up with an absent father, he didn’t want his pup to suffer the same.

 

Bucky promised himself he was going to tell Steve about Lucas no matter what, no matter if he came back because things with Peggy didn’t work out, or if he couldn’t get to her, or whatever reason he may have. So, he had to see Steve, he had to listen to him and understand him to be able to move on with the life he already had, with or without him.

 

“Remember we’ll be here, you can come out whenever you want, ok?” Sam told him before entering the room, he nodded and sighed. “Good luck, Buck.”

 

He opened the door softly and peaked inside, Steve was in a sitting position, was wearing a short-sleeved white t-shirt, his legs were covered by the bed comforter and all the machines around him were off. Sam had told him that he was expected to leave the med bay that same day, Friday had run every test possible and Steve looked fine, the Sleeping Beauty state was because he wasn’t ready for spending extra time traveling as he had. He had seen the room before from the other side, so the placement of the furniture or the man inside weren’t a surprise to him, but the man on the bed was surprised, if he had been a dog, his ears would’ve been up in the sky.

 

“Bucky?”

 

“Hey…”

 

“Oh God, Buck, come here,” he said and Bucky couldn’t refuse, he hugged him like there was no tomorrow and got the same in return. Their noses were buried on the other’s neck, breathing in the scents they both could recognize no matter what and remained locked in the embrace for a couple of minutes.

 

“You’re a punk,” he whispered before breaking the hug but not the contact, Steve looked like he didn’t want to let go.

 

“Even if it was a few seconds to me, I missed you, jerk…” Ok, that caught him off guard. What?

 

“I-I missed you, too…” thankfully there was a chair nearby and Bucky took it, sat down next to the bed. “How did you get back, Cap?”

 

Steve’s lip almost smiled at the nickname. “Bruce never actually turned off the time machine, he programmed to turn on every now and then. I ran into some trouble and ran out of time… missed my jump and spent all these months in the quantic realm.”

 

“Oh… did you get to be with her for a while at least?”

 

“Peggy? Yes.” Bucky shallowed hard, his head nodded slightly.

 

“You got your date?”

 

“No, we talked a lot,” Steve said, “after she tried to kill me, of course.”

 

“I’m not surprised to hear that,” he chuckled, “what did you tell her?”

 

“Not much, only the necessary, the news, my plan…”

 

“Was she happy to see you?”

 

“Yeah… she was happy to see me alive, the last time she heard me was when I was putting the Valkyrie into the water.”

 

“My God, every time you say that like it was nothing makes me wanna punch you so hard you pass out, I swear.” This time Steve did smile, Bucky shook his head. “Same happens when the team tells me you didn’t know the purpose of parachutes… really, punk? I didn’t protect you before for you to get killed in this century.”

 

“I know you didn’t… I’m sorry for the no-parachutes situations and the saving the world by putting myself into a natural freezer for 70 years,” Bucky snorted and slapped him in the arm.

 

“You’re not making a case for yourself like you think, let me tell ya that.”

 

 

There was a small audience behind the glass. Sam, Wanda, and Peter were smiling at each other, they hadn’t seen Steve speak more than two words and let alone _smile_ or _laugh_ like he was doing now. All that self-sacrificing idiot they loved needed to go back to life, were five minutes with his best friend.

 

“Do you think they are going to make out now? That would be so cute!”

 

“Peter!” Wanda and Sam whispered-yelled

 

“What? They are obviously making heart eyes at each other, you can’t blame me!” he protested pointing at them, the way Steve was looking at Bucky while he talked was like every romance book described it to be like.

 

“I feel like we’re spying on them, don’t you?” Asked Wanda crossing her arms, “shall we leave? They may be having a really important conversation, right?”

 

“I never thought I was gonna said this, but,” Sam said, “look at them… Bucky’s not gonna admit it but he’s got the same expression he has when he’s with Lucas, so relaxed, so in peace… and Steve, God I haven’t him so happy since…” he put a finger on his chin, thinking for long minutes until Peter and Wanda looked at him weirdly, “I have never seen Steve so happy, period.”

 

“We’ll get to see him if Bucky is with him, and we know that they can’t be apart from each other for a long time right? That means we're gonna see this new happy Steve all the time,” she answered and unable to stop watching Steve and Bucky talking with a smile on her own face. Steve was like a father figure to her, always so right and serious that it was a nice change to see him interact with Bucky that naturally, off his Captain America and protective dad persona.

 

“Maybe… but…”

 

“No-oh, no more but, mister,” Wanda said taking an arm of each man to drag them out. “We are leaving, this is private.”

 

“But I kinda wanna see them make out, when will I ever get the chance to see it again?”

 

“Peter!”

 

“God! Fine! Let’s go! But if I don’t see those lovebirds finally kiss in the future I’m blaming you two!”

 

 

“So…” Bucky said prolonging the last ‘o’, nervously, “why did you get back? It didn’t work out?”

 

“Buck, I didn’t plan on staying with Peggy.”

 

Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed, confusion written all over his face. “What do you mean? You volunteered to bring back the stones with the mere purpose of staying back with her, I don’t understand…”

 

“I changed my mind…”

 

“That’s all you have to say? You changed your mind?” Steve nodded, Bucky looked at the floor not really knowing what to say or to ask. Well, he wanted to ask what was it that it made him change his mind but he was scared of the answer. Bucky sat there in silence, his brain scrambling to find the words to say, the right words to ask.

 

Steve could sense he was panicking in the inside, that’s why he decided to talk first and confess. “I heard you…”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Before I left, I heard what you said to me.” Bucky’s face went white. “I could never live in the past knowing you were here alone with our pup.”

 

The room definitely started to feel like Bucky was in a kaleidoscope, colors and the walls were spinning in his eyes, his body was falling and falling, his lungs were forgetting how to work correctly. Steve had come back because he heard him. He had _heard_ him. And came back. For their pup. Oh my God, Steve knew about their pup. Oh, God.

 

“Buck, are you ok?”

 

“Yeah, yeah… just trying to believe all this…that-that…”

 

Steve smiled shyly, his fingers were playing with the comforter and waiting for Bucky yo say something else, but he didn’t. “Can… can I tell you something?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“You smell adorable,” with that, Bucky was a teenager again. His cheeks blushed quickly, reminding him of all the times that had happened in the past when Steve complimented him, calling him his doll, his perfect Omega, the love of his life, his best guy. He looked away from him to try to hide it and answered with the only response that popped on his mind.

 

“Is my new perfume, Eau de Pup.” Steve snorted and started to laugh like crazy, Bucky smiled at the sound of it and laughed with him. He wasn’t lying though, he knew he smelled more like Lucas than himself and he loved it, he loved to be so lucky to have him.

 

“There is a pup then…”

 

“Of course there is, Stevie, the third time is the charm, remember?” Bucky bit his tongue the exact second those words came out his mouth, his own smile and Steve’s died. Damn it.

 

“Third? You… you were pregnant… Buck?”

 

“I-I was… when I was drafted…” he admitted in a whisper, not daring to look at him and playing with his thumbs. “I knew it a few days before leaving and you were so worried about me that I didn’t want to get-“

 

“Buck…” Steve interrupted, but he kept on mumbling.

 

“I didn’t want you to get your hopes up either… it felt wrong not to tell you, but I saved you from the pain of the bad news.”

 

“Buck…”

 

“I lost it in England, I’m sorry…” he whispered. “Sorry I didn’t tell you,” Steve took his hand and interlaced his fingers slowly with Bucky's.

 

“Buck, it’s ok… I’m the one who’s sorry, sorry I wasn’t there for you,” he said, feeling sick for imagining Bucky in a foreign country, scared for the war and crying alone for a loss that included him.

 

“I didn’t want you to be more disappointed in me…”

 

“I could never be disappointed in you,” he said, his eyes never leaving those blue-grayish ones he loved. “Never, never. You’re the best that ever happened to me.”

 

“You’re not the best one in my life anymore, sorry,” Bucky said, “the pup took your place.” Steve smiled big suddenly, Bucky’s lips followed his action and his smile turned coy when Steve kissed his hand.

 

“I know we are not together… but I hope you let me be in our pup’s life…”

 

“Are you going to be an absent father? Going out for missions for weeks and stuff?” Bucky wandered out loud, Steve’s lips formed a straight line.

 

“No, I actually was thinking about retiring…”

 

“Retiring?”

 

“Yeah… I want to live the life that Tony and Nat told me to get, and I want it to be quiet, with our pup, no more missions, no more battles… I want to help somewhere else, not in the field.”

 

“Ok…”

 

“Ok?”

 

“Yeah, Steve… I’m a little sad for the world though, you know? They are going to miss Captain America.”

 

“Well, I’m retiring, but it doesn’t mean the mantle cannot be passed to someone else,” he raised an eyebrow and like in the old days, they didn’t need words to communicate, Bucky smiled and nodded with excitement.

 

“He’s gonna be thrilled, Stevie.”

 

“Yeah? You think he’s gonna take it?”

 

“He’s going to be like a child with a new toy at first, but he’s gonna be a hell of a Cap, believe me.” Bucky had forgotten their hands were touching and remembered it when Steve caressed it with his thumb, sighing in content for the contact. “Just for the record, I was going to let you be in the pup’s life even without the retirement, he’s going to need you.”

 

Steve’s eyes softened in an instant at the unexpected gender reveal. “He?”

 

“Yeah… he looks like you, by the way, I slow cooked him for months and that’s how he paid me,” he said sounding offended, Steve bit his lip to not laugh.

 

“How old is he?”

 

“Turned five months last week, he’s got the most adorable chubby cheeks, I just wanna kiss them all day,” Bucky commented chuckling, the hold on his hand tightened.

 

“Looks like me but has chubby cheeks? I was a sack of bones and skin, Buck, he looks like you.”

 

“Nah, he’s healthy, that’s why… he’s a normal pup, luckily.”

 

“That’s good, no worrying for diseases or superpowers, right?” Bucky made an ‘mhm’ sound. “Is he here?”

 

“Downstairs with Nakia… wanna meet him later?” Steve’s excited expression was all the answer he needed, and if now Steve had been a dog, he would’ve been one waiting for its owner to open the door of their home, ears up and head tilted, anxious and happy for what was behind it.

 

 

___ ... ___

 

 

Steve was discharged from the med floor in the morning, got a welcome lunch with the remaining Avengers and got his old apartment back. Peter had told him that Bucky, Nakia, Shuri, and the pup had gone for a walk in Central Park and to grab lunch, they were going back sometime during the afternoon.

 

He took all that remaining time until they came back, to talk to Sam, to ask him how things have been because he didn’t want to make that question at lunch, also asked for advice, and got almost all the answers he was looking for. He found out that Bucky didn’t live in the tower but in Wakanda, that he had a job that allowed him to have a routine with the pup, and have his own money to do whatever he wanted like he deserved. He didn’t ask much about the pup though, he wanted to ask those questions to Bucky.

 

 

Later in the day, Bucky sent Sam a text asking him to tell Steve if he could wait in the common room, that he was going to take the pup there after his afternoon nap. So there he was, getting highly impatient, checking his outfit like if that was something his pup was going to care about, smelling him already in the place because it was the scent he had smelled on Bucky earlier, and on his 13rd time of checking if his grey Henley was ok, the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

 

“No, we don’t grab daddy’s hair to play, daddy’s hair is not a toy,” Bucky was saying, his voice the softest tone that Steve ever heard him talk in, both their scents got stronger and his body trembled at what his eyes captured.

 

Bucky, wearing a band T-shirt that Steve didn’t even know he liked, washed jeans and Converse, a backpack on one shoulder, with a blond pup in his arms, wearing a similar outfit but without the shoes. Steve’s feet didn’t want to move but for his luck, Bucky did move to him, smiling adorably and looking nervous at the same time.

 

“Look, that’s Captain America!” Bucky exclaimed to make the pup look, and when he did, oh dear God, Steve wanted to cry, he was too cute to be true, using a red pacifier and a toy in his hands. “Say hi to Steve, Lucas.”

 

 _Lucas_.

 

“Hi puppy,” he said in the same soft tone Bucky was using, smiling slightly not knowing what else to do, Lucas looked at him with his big blue questioning eyes, until he smiled big showing off his gums, the pacifier forgotten and extended his arms at him.

 

“You can do it,” Bucky said while catching the pacifier before it touched the floor, “he likes being held, especially when he's offering it.”

 

Steve slowly put his arms under the pup’s armpits and hold him carefully, accommodating him to his chest. Lucas started to play with his hair the second the was in his arms, smiling proudly at himself for taking the strands and playing with them. Bucky could feel the change in Steve’s scent, the protectiveness and proudness he was irradiating because of their pup and he couldn’t help to smile. He had been nervous about Lucas not wanting to be with his dada, but Bucky immediately knew that having some of Steve’s clothes on his nest and wearing them had helped in that. Lucas had been smelling his dad even when he wasn’t there and now their bond was growing the same way it would’ve done if Steve was there the day he was born. Also, he being more relaxed at the situation helped a lot with calming the pup's humor. 

 

“Does he has another name?” Steve asked while he sat on the carpet to play with his pup, Bucky was next to them, helping them to make a toy disaster with the things that were on Lucas's backpack.

 

“Yeah, Bathandwa, Bathandwa Lucas Barnes… but you know, we can change it to Rogers if you want to…”

 

“Or we could keep yours and add Rogers, he’s yours too.”

 

Bucky smiled and nodded, “that sounds good, thanks…” Steve smiled at him before his attention went back to Lucas, that was stacking blocks and tearing them down, each time Steve made sure to pretend surprise and make him laugh with exaggerated expressions and reactions. Bucky's inside Omega was purring with happiness at the sight, all the distress from the previous days was gone, Lucas knew it and showed it with his attitude towards Steve. Let's say that if they had met the day they arrived, with Bucky crying and in shock, he would've screamed at the top of his lungs for his daddy, not even caring that the man's scent was familiar to him. 

 

"Oh God," Steve said laughing, Bucky looked at him, "he has the most adorable t-shirt ever!" Oh, yeah. Lucas was wearing an item gifted by Rhodey, it was deep blue, with the Cap's shield in the center and the words  **Super baby** written beneath it.

 

"It's cute, he has a lot of your merch."

 

"Oh, we can maybe dress him in a Cap suit for Halloween!" he exclaimed, "what do you think, Luckie? Would you like that?"

 

The pup laughed at the Alpha's enthusiasm, Bucky only arched an eyebrow, a smile threatening with appearing, "Luckie?"

 

"Oh... it just slipped out... does he has a nickname he likes?"

 

"No, I call him Lucas most of the time, along with other nicknames that come and go. But if he likes Luckie, go ahead with it."

 

Steve nodded happily before returning his attention to the pup. “So, what does Lucas mean?”

 

“Bright or shinning… I consider him my lucky charm, and when I think of that I think of something shining and beautiful, like him.” Steve smiled at him, of course Bucky had chosen the perfect name with the perfect meaning for their son.

 

“And Bathandwa?”

 

“It means _beloved_ in Xhosa because he is loved and well, he was created and born in Wakanda, he needed a Wakandan name, right?”

 

“That’s right…” Steve looked sweetly at Lucas, his fingers brushing on his golden hair to take it out his little and kissable face. The next question came out loud without intention. “Are you planning on raising him in Wakanda?”

 

“Yeah… we have a life there and to be honest I rather raise him there, with the jungle and nature than here, the concrete jungle.”

 

“Sounds logical…”

 

“Are… are you planning on living in New York after retiring?”

 

“I don’t know yet, I was kinda hoping to go wherever the baby and you were.” A warm feeling spread through Bucky’s chest, he smiled biting his lip, his heart content with the fact that Steve was willing to be there for Lucas. “If allow me, of course.”

 

“Oh, I’ll allow you, buddy, Lucas would hate me if I didn’t let you follow us,” he said pointing at him and the happy look on his baby's face.

 

“Yeah, he’s acting like we’re best friends already!” Steve exclaimed kissing Lucas’s cheek repeatedly, making him laugh uncontrollably and making Bucky smile even more.

 

“When I told Sam I was pregnant he went full protective uncle mode,” he commented, “he read a bunch of stuff online, bought books. He sent me a box with the books and all the highlighted information he thought it was important,” Bucky remembered chucking. “And he sent me some of your old clothes to wear or put on the nest, he said it was to calm the pup once he was born or even before that, and it’s been working so far. Maybe that’s why he’s so calm and relaxed with you, he knows who you are.”

 

“You think so?”

 

“Yeah, Stevie, he’s a smart pup,” he said moving to kiss Lucas’s golden hair, “of course you are, you’re so clever, my smart little boy.” Steve’s heart skipped a few beats when Lucas melted to his daddy’s affection. He knew that Bucky was going to be an amazing dad one day, now he got the evidence right in front of him.

 

Steve couldn’t wait to be part of their lives, be with Lucas in every milestone possible and recover the time he had already lost with him. It was going to hurt not to be with Bucky for a while, but he _knew_ that things were going to work out. And obviously, the beautiful pup with the same eyes, hair, and face as himself, was worth it.

 

 

The team walked into the common room later that evening for their weekly get together to eat dinner and watch movies, and they were definitely surprised to see the scene developing in there at their arrival. Steve was sitting on the sofa, his feet on the coffee table and his hands carding through Bucky’s hair, that had his head over a pillow on Steve’s lap. Both of them were watching Lucas sleep stomach down on Bucky’s chest, his cute arms extended on his daddy’s collar bone and head resting over his heart.

 

They said sorry for the interruption and offered to get together on somebody else’s apartment, but Bucky smiled at them and refused to get in the way of their reunion. Sam watched smiling as his best friends left the room together, Steve’s hand placed on Lucas back and the other on Bucky’s, both of them smiling at each other.

 

That night Nakia came back after having dinner with a friend, took off her shoes and left her purse on the kitchen counter while grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She went to check on Bucky and ask if he had eaten or if he needed something, expecting to find him nursing the pup or reading a book. But, oh, what she found made her smile much more than what she had expected. On the center of the queen sized bed were the sleeping forms of Bucky, Lucas, and Steve. The pup was asleep on Steve’s chest with a blanket over his body like he usually did on Bucky, and he was on his side, metal arm crossed over the Alpha’s stomach, left leg intertwined with Steve’s leg and flush against his body. Steve’s arms were full, grabbing his son and Bucky by the shoulders to have them close like if he was scared they weren’t going to be there when he woke up.

 

Nakia couldn’t resist to snap a picture and close the door softly with a smile, hoping that on the way back to Wakanda the jet had an extra passenger.


	5. I'm coming home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oi galerinha! I'm so sorry it took me longer to update this time (it's been almost a week, right?), but I've been really busy with Uni and extracurricular activities, the semester is coming to an end, so no time for AO3 :(
> 
> Also, I got myself an... app? a platform? to help me with the horrible typos crimes I've been committing this past chapters because in case you haven't noticed, English is not my first language 😅 I apologize for those mistakes and thank you guys for bearing with me! 
> 
> Have a nice day and I hope you like this one!
> 
> Fab.

_“Say you love me more than you did before_

_and I’m sorry that it’s this way_

_But_ **_I’m coming home_ ** _, I’ll be coming home”_

 

Unfortunately, Nakia’s wish didn’t come true. It broke Steve’s and Bucky’s heart, but he still had some things to fix and explanations to do and couldn’t leave right away with them.

 

Among the things that Steve had to do, giving the Captain America mantle to Sam was at the top of the list. One of the troubles Steve ran into was in his attempt to get his shield back to give it to him. Obviously Sam could refuse the mantle, but instead, he almost died and thought it was a joke, so it took Steve an extra 20 minutes to convince him that it was true, that it was happening. One of the days when Steve got the most things done, was the same one that Sam’s remastered suit was ready, and he filmed him flying around the city with his new wings, new star-spangled suit and new shield, smile big on both their faces, Sam because of his new Avenger name, and Steve because he had never seen his best friend that happy in a while.

 

Steve wasn’t the only one filming Sam fly between the buildings and although both of them had sent Bucky some pictures and videos, he watched the ones from other people exclaiming in surprise at the new Captain America, enjoying Sam’s evident happiness and people’s acceptance at Steve retiring from the field. People thought it was only because he needed the retirement, not because he had a son he wanted to dedicate his time to, Luckie —as he insisted on calling him— wasn’t out in the world as the former Winter Soldier and former Captain America’s pup yet. In a conversation he had with Bucky they agreed it was better to keep it from the world for as much as they could, hoping the Wakandan press respected their decision.

 

In addition to this, Lucas took hard the fact his dada wasn’t with him the whole time. Steve, that went back and forth between NYC and Wakanda, felt the exact same way Lucas did, and he asked to have days full of things, in order to get them done to fly to Birnin Zana every now and then to visit his pup. Bucky was there as well… and to put it in simple words, things weren’t easy.

 

Here’s the thing about Steve: he was still the WLAOWTL aka World’s Leading Authority On Waiting Too Long, and had no idea of how to talk to Bucky, tell him how he felt and make things right. He did other things though, like sending him gifts, flowers, chocolates, notes with bad jokes on them, things he had done when they were a couple. Another way of communication he had with Bucky was, of course, by phone, mostly video calling him to exclusively see Lucas or let him know he was set to arrive in a few hours. They also talked during his visits, mostly about future plans with Lucas, some times about themselves. And during the visits there was also a little bit of flirting between them, they couldn’t help it, it was in their blood to treat the other that way.

 

Sam and Shuri had been there for a few visits too, and they were impatiently waiting for Steve to confess his feelings to make Bucky feel comfortable and be able to confess his own. Because here’s the thing about them: they knew those two idiots loved each other but were too afraid to say something, they still carried the weight of their breakup back in the war. And here’s another thing: Shuri and Sam were determinate to make them talk and figure things out.

 

Then, months started to pass. October came around and for Halloween, Lucas was dressed up in Sam’s new Cap suit at the Avengers Tower, and following Bucky’s instructions, Shuri didn’t add functional wings to the costume. He helped his daddy with the decoration of his apartment, went trick or treating on the doors of the other Avenger’s and ate a few candies. That one time Bucky accepted to stay on Steve’s floor and Sam —actually, everyone— thought that it was time for them to finally talk and get together. But it didn’t. They all hoped the same when they all spent Lucas’s first birthday and Christmas in Wakanda. But it didn’t. The same happened when Steve stayed extra days with him after the New Year. But it didn’t. And again when it was Bucky’s birthday and Steve traveled to spend it with him. But guess what? It didn’t.

 

Sam and Shuri were frustrated, Steve was being patient and Bucky was completely oblivious.

 

During the months that Bucky and Lucas spent on and off with Steve, Bucky couldn’t stop thinking about him. He had re-read some of his old diaries with memories of the two of them and dreamed of them at night. His inside Omega wanted to welcome Steve with open arms, tell him he loved him and act like they never broke up during the war _if_ Steve wanted to, _if_ Steve told him the magical words. Bucky appreciated his gifts, invitations to go to New York, or his own visits to his home, but he didn’t _realize_ the meaning of the acts. He thought that Steve did it because of Lucas, that may be sending something for the pup and his dad was a nice gesture, not that it was the Alpha’s intent to get his attention.

 

Bucky was blind to the kisses on the cheek, temple, the long hugs, the shared laughs, the good morning and good night texts, the heart —and bed— eyes Steve would make at him at any time of the day… and it was getting on their best friends' nerves.

 

__ … __

 

It was May and NYC was starting to get warmer. Sam and Steve were back in the common room after an afternoon of training, drinking protein shakes, eating some fruit and looking at the last picture Bucky had sent him of Lucas taking a bath with some rubber ducks.

 

“Ok, I need to talk to you,” Sam said to him leaving his glass on the sink. Steve, that was sitting on a stool, nodded, “ok, here it goes. When are you going to talk to Buck?”

 

“Since when do you call him Buck?” he asked back, jealousy on his voice.

 

“Since you went back to the past and we both missed you, we had no other choice but to become friends,” Sam’s eyebrows were almost on his hairline trying to make a point, Steve shrugged his shoulders. “So?”

 

“I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know what else to do.”

 

“Well, I gotta admit your pal is completely indifferent to your movements… but I do have a good option if you wanna hear me out.”

 

“Go on…”

 

“Tell him you love him,” he let out, and Steve’s expression could be described as the classic deer caught in the headlights, Sam laughed. “No, no, don’t give me that look, I’ve seen you two interact, with the hip squeezes and the arm on the waist and the long hugs and the noses in the neck and the inside jokes and the napping on each other’s shoulders and the sometimes napping on the same bed with Lucas, love is obviously there, dude!.”

 

“I-I… that’s how I’ve always been around Bucky,” he said, Sam laughed again.

 

“Steve, the only thing you had left to do is either tell him you love him or kiss him, you’re being too obvious and he’s too blind.”

 

“Do you think he feels the same? I mean, he had shown he’s comfortable with our interactions… but, I don’t know.”

 

“I know he feels the same,” Sam confirmed with confidence. “What Bucky needs now is for you to open up to him, tell him how you truly feel, to know how you feel so he can also tell you how he feels.”

 

“But…”

 

“No, no buts. First, you’re behind him like a lost puppy, whether you like it or not, you are and I fully supported it because it was fun, but it’s fun when it doesn’t last long, now it’s just getting sad. Second, Steve, in my entire life I’ve never seen two people dance around each other as you two do and it’s irritating me, and I’m not even involved in the relationship,” Steve smiled looking down. “Rogers, do something, I mean it.”

 

“I will,” he promised, “I’m done with New York and I’m moving to Wakanda, Nakia helped me get the required permission until I get my visa.”

 

“What? When are you leaving?”

 

“Tomorrow morning, I need to pack my bags and…”

 

“God, yes, finally!” Sam exclaimed, interrupting Steve and extending his arms to the ceiling. “I gotta text Shuri!” he said jumping up and down, taking his phone and typing like his life depended on it.

 

“What? Why Shuri?”

 

“Because we are fucking tired of this little game and the sexual tension, man...” Steve’s skin felt hot like he was in front of a bonfire, “the sexual tension is real, you need to get some, Steve.”

 

“My God, Sam!” he said covering his face with his hands.

 

“And Bucky needs it, too!”

 

“Sam!”

 

“Remember to have more pups to dress them like me for Halloween!”

 

“Samuel!”

 

“And if they are girls you can dress them as Wanda!”

 

“My God, you’re impossible,” Steve commented standing up, he was smiling at his enthusiasm but embarrassed for his words.

 

“You’re impossible, Rogers, you need to tell your Omega you love him and get laid, I bought earplugs for Lucas so you don’t traumatize him!”

 

“I’m gonna pack my bags,” he said walking to the elevator while chuckling, the elevator doors opened and he entered it, “Friday, to my floor please.”

 

“Of course, Capsicle.”

 

The elevator doors started to close when Steve heard Sam’s excited voice yelling in the kitchen. “Oh my God, Shuri! He’s gonna do it! He’s gonna confess his feelings and get laid!” Steve laughed quietly, “take Lucas out of the building and get Bucky some condoms, they are gonna need them!”

 

“Sam!”

 

__ … __

 

It was an atypical Wednesday, Bucky was with his computer on the sofa in the living room of his apartment, typing away with one of his undercover agents and redacting a mission status report. The team that Bucky supervised in the Hatut Zeraze was away in Angola, making him work from home until they came back or something bad happened. Lucas was napping in his room and Bucky calculated he had another 20 minutes before he woke up to ask for his attention when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

 

Bucky checked his phone to see if there was any message of the visitor announcing their arrival but found nothing. He was definitely not ready for having someone over, he had showered and shaved that morning, the apartment was clean and tidy thanks to the lady who took care of all that, but his hair was up in a messy bun, he was wearing sweats, a black sports bra —because his body continued to produce milk for the pup and it was uncomfortable for him to not use it—, no shoes and no t-shirt.

 

The agitated person behind the door decided to knock again and this time Bucky looked through the peephole to see who was daring to disturb his pup nap and his afternoon of work. The answer came in the form of a tall, blond, handsome Alpha.

 

“Steve?” he whispered opening the door, “Steve?” he asked again, this time out loud. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Hey, I was just passing by and thought of coming to say hi,” he said, a playful smile on his face.

 

“You’re an idiot,” Bucky said throwing himself to his arms without thinking about it, just letting the Omega in him take over his emotions for a moment, he hadn’t seen him in weeks, he was allowed to melt to his touch… right? “I missed you.”

 

“I missed you, too,” Steve kissed his temple while returning the hug with the same energy, his nose deep in Bucky’s neck.

 

They stood like that for a while, Steve’s hands caressed Bucky’s naked skin tenderly, fighting back the urge to scent him all over and enjoying the way he was hugging his neck, the weigh of his head on his shoulder feeling familiar. Bucky was the one on breaking the contact, a big smile on his face and sparkly eyes.

 

“Come in! Lucas is taking a nap but it’s set to wake up in a couple of minutes, he’s going to be so excited to see you!”

 

Steve smiled and entered the apartment behind him, “I’m sorry I came unannounced, I hope you weren’t busy.”

 

“Nah, just doing some work from home, my team is out on duty and there’s no reason for me to be in the headquarters as long as things don’t go south.” He explained and took a t-shirt that was on the sofa to put it on to Steve’s disliking, Bucky had a nice soft chest to look at, he didn’t blame Lucas for using it as a mattress or a pillow sometimes.

 

“That’s good, what is your team up to?”

 

“Dismantling a drug and human trafficking band, it’s not my first big job but Nakia trusted me with it… so, yeah, we are hoping everything goes well.”

 

“I’m sure it’s going to be a success, Buck, you’re the King of strategies,” he complimented him, a pinky shade took over Bucky’s cheeks.

 

“Pffff, you’re just saying that Rogers!” he said laughing nervously. “Would you like something to drink, eat? There’s plenty of vanilla coffee, your favorite.” And with that, Bucky walked to the big kitchen, Steve followed him.

 

“How do you know I like vanilla coffee?”

 

“You told me, punk, is your age finally catching up with you?”

 

“Did I?” Steve asked, watching Bucky move to get the things to put in the coffee machine.

 

“Yeah, on your last visit before everything, you asked me what was my favorite thing about the 21st century, yours was scented or flavored coffee because we only had two varieties of coffee back in Brooklyn and the war, remember?”

 

“Yeah, dark coffee and terrible coffee,” Steve remembered laughing.

 

“And we always agreed they were both the most disgusting thing we ever drank,” Bucky added smiling at him.

 

“That is correct, one vanilla coffee, please.”

 

“Sure thing!” he put the machine to work and turned around to look at Steve, his bottom lip prisoner of his teeth, Steve's pupils dilated at it, “also, I noticed how my vanilla coffee stock is reduced every time you leave, so…”

 

“Cheater,” they laughed and Steve felt the urge to stand up and get to Bucky, put his hands on his waist and kiss him for all he was worth, feel the softness of his lips, kiss his neck and jawline, hear him moan for it and take off the stupid t-shirt again.

 

His mind was so up in the clouds, lost in the dreamy image of his body pressed against Bucky, that he nearly lost the look he was giving him, the same dilated pupils were present on his eyes and teeth torturing his lower lip again. “I’m gonna check if my agent answered, be right back!” he said quickly, leaving the kitchen with his heart beating faster than a minute ago.

 

Steve smiled seeing him leave and took a second to look around the apartment, the size of the living room alone was the equivalent of the space their old apartment in Brooklyn used to have, everything still looked new and modern. There were also polarized windows that reminded him of the ones on his apartment in the Stark Industries-Avengers tower, they went all the way from the ceiling to the floor, giving an amazing view of the city. He had seen it before, just that this time it looked more like a home with the box of Lucas’s toys on the floor and framed pictures hanging on the walls

 

“You like it, don’t you?” Bucky asked him walking back to the kitchen, going to the counter and handing Steve a cup of coffee, taking a seat on the stool of the island.

 

“It’s beautiful, feels like home,” he answered imitating his action and taking the coffee.

 

“Have I told you Ramonda and Nakia helped me to pick it? It was this one or a house, but the house wasn't close to work, this one was the best option."

 

“I know Buck, I’m really proud of you, you have come a long way,” he said taking his hand from over the table, Bucky almost purred.

 

“Thank you… it means a lot coming from you…” they shared looks and hold it for a while, Steve resisting his impulse of telling him he loved him right there. Just when he was thinking of that, the baby monitor in the living room alerted them that there was movement on the crib and Bucky stood up, “Lucas must be up, wanna come?”

 

“What kind of question is that?”

 

The cups of coffee were left abandoned and the two men walked through a hallway that led to five doors, one of those was open and there was sound coming out of it. Lucas’s room was full of pastel colors and toys he had gotten from all his uncles and aunts. The crib the pup was in was yellow, similar to Lucas golden locks that were tousled, his blue eyes sleepy and his pacifier on, he immediately did grabby hands at his daddy and sighted in content when he took him. That was until he looked up and found his dada at the door. Bucky and Steve observed how he lifted his head and a little whine came out of him before offering his arms at him.

 

“You wanna go with dada?” a sound of protest made them laugh and Bucky walked to Steve, “say ‘hi dada, I missed you’”.

 

“Hi baby, hi Lucas,” Steve said in his baby voice, his pup raised his arms and sat comfy in those strong arms he liked. “I missed you so much my little Luckie.”

 

“I think we never agreed on you calling him Luckie, it sounds like a cigarettes brand, Stevie.”

 

“Shhh, you’re ruining the moment, jerk.” Bucky snorted slapping him on the arm and kissed Lucas cheek, admiring the look on both their faces, sighting and smiling to himself. 

 

 

During the rest of the day, Steve didn’t say how much time he was going to stay and even though he was staying at the Palace, Bucky invited him to stay in the apartment instead, to be closer to Lucas. And boy, that was both a horrible and a good decision.

 

Horrible because Bucky spent days living under the same roof as Steve without sleeping in his arms, seeing him feed his Omega side every time he woke up to change Lucas, or when he cooked for them, or played with their pup or helped him take baths. And a good one because his team’s mission went south, of fucking course it did. Bucky had to fly to Angola to assist the assault team and had to leave Steve and Lucas in Wakanda for one long day. But at least, the pup was being taken care of by his dada, which was supernatural on his role. Shuri and Ramonda checked on them anyway, they went to visit them and make sure Steve had everything he and Lucas needed while Bucky was away.

 

In the end, the mission ended up going as planned despite the initial panic, the band was dismantled and innocent victims were set free from their hands. When Bucky came back on day two, he was welcomed by a very happy Lucas, a tired but smiling Steve and a small cake for his successful mission.

 

 

It was on the night of Steve’s 10th day that finally he and Bucky could sit down to talk after dinner. The night was perfect, not too hot and not too cold, the balcony offered a majestic view and privacy enough for them to be seated on the outdoor sofa next to each other, talking and laughing like they used to do in Brooklyn.

 

Bucky looked at Steve while they talked about their times with the Howling Commandos, and could easily tell there was something the Alpha wasn’t saying or asking.

 

“I can see it eating up your brain,” he told him, elbowing him to get his attention.

 

“What?”

 

“Whatever it is you’re thinking, it’s eating you up,” Steve sighed avoiding his eyes. “C’ mon, tell me what it is.”

 

“It’s-I… I don’t wanna ruin the mood, Buck…”

 

“Why? What is it about?”

 

“About us…”

 

“There’s nothing about us that can ruin the mood, is it?” he asked smiling.

 

“Well… kinda…” he sighed again and talked closing his eyes, “I was wondering… why did you leave me, you know… when I joined the army?” Bucky’s smile disappeared slowly, his eyes looked down. “Shit, I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer, Buck, I’m so sorry, I-I…”

 

“I told you when I did it,” he answered in a whisper. “Told you that it would be better to be friends again so could we meet new people.”

 

“I know, I remember… but I knew that it was half the reason. I was never brave enough to ask you for the rest of it…”

 

“I wanted you to be happy, even if it wasn’t with me…”

 

“I was happy, Buck, I was happy with you… I took the decision to became a lab experiment to fight the war and bring you back home with me, to continuing to live with my boyfriend.”

 

“But Steve," he protested, "you wanted the American dream, a big family with a perfect Omega that could give you that and I was damaged and…”

 

“You were perfect to me, Buck.”

 

“I wasn’t.” Bucky interrupted bitterly, “I lost two pups, Steve, perfect Omegas don’t have miscarriages, they don’t make their Alpha suffer because of that.”

 

A dot was connected in Steve’s brain and realized he was a fucking idiot for not connecting it before. Bucky’s eyes were glossy and his lips quivering to prevent him from crying. Steve moved closer to him and hugged him, “my God, Buck, that’s why you did it?”

 

Bucky's tears went down without a blink, he sniffed and let his body be hugged. “I wasn’t enough, Stevie, I wasn’t enough,” he sobbed in his chest, leaning to his touch. “I couldn’t give you what you wanted, I couldn’t make you happy.”

 

“I was happy, I was so happy with you, Buck…”

 

Steve let Bucky cry in his embrace for as long as he wanted to and needed to. He held him the entire time, kissing his hair, his forehead, whatever he could kiss, letting Bucky know that he wasn’t alone, that he was there and that he was going to take care of him, it was his turn to do it. 

 

With Bucky’s crying coming to an end several minutes later, he just stood in between Steve’s arms, allowing him to take the locks out his eyes, scenting him a little to help him relax. Bucky sighed rubbing his face on Steve’s chest a couple of times, sniffing softly and wrapping his arms around the Alpha’s waist.

 

“Buck, I was respecting your decision of parting ways, you know?” he said calmly, his hands caressing Bucky’s flesh arm, “but I never stopped loving you.”

 

“What?” he whispered, face surging from its hiding to look at him. “What did you say?”

 

“I love you, Buck, I never stopped doing it,” Steve repeated, this time looking at him straight in the eyes.

 

“You do?” he asked, his eyes getting watery again.

 

“Yeah, I love you, I always have…”

 

“But… Peggy, you… you wanted to come back to her…”

 

“When I told you about going back to Peggy I was hoping you will stop me, but you didn’t... and I thought it was better to live in a timeline without you, than having you close and keep on being friends… right now I can tolerate it for Lucas, but honestly, I just… I love you so much it hurts.”

 

“Did you love her?” Bucky asked firmly.

 

“I loved her like a friend, Buck, by going back to her I believed I could learn to love her like something else… then I realized couldn’t be with someone else when I was still in love with you. I still am.”

 

“You do?” Bucky repeated, his ears couldn’t believe what he was hearing and Steve started to found it adorable.

 

“Of course I do… you were my first love, we were together since I was fourteen and you’re hard to forget.” Bucky shook his head, a little smile on his lips.

 

“I am, right?” Steve was smiling at him now, being the personification of the heart eyes emoji and Bucky’s mind spoke for him, “I love you too Stevie,” he confessed pressing their foreheads together. “God, I love you so much.”

 

“I’m glad the feeling is mutual.”

 

“Shut up and kiss me, punk.”

 

Steve didn’t have to be told twice, he removed his forehead from Bucky’s and closed his eyes to move closer, and then their lips touched, sending flames through their chests. The contact was sweet and innocent, like their first kiss had been a long time ago when Steve had built the courage to kiss Bucky during sunset in his mom’s apartment. Just like the first time, Bucky imitated his movements and started to move his lips, emitting a breathy moan and his legs moving to straddle Steve’s thighs.

 

It was different from the night they had created Lucas. That time had been fast, rough and their kisses hadn’t felt like this one. This time everything felt like _home_ , the way they kissed, the way their bodies reacted to it, the closeness, the warm feeling on their hearts, the muffled moans, the roaming hands on each other’s bodies, the small smiles and laughs before coming back for another kiss, another touch. The bond would have celebrated at their reunion if Steve had bit Bucky in the past, the emotions were too high and their Omega and Alpha sides were dancing of happiness.

 

When they were able to finally stop kissing with goofy smiles on their faces, Bucky left his head fall to Steve’s shoulder, sighing while leaving small kisses on that tempting neck.

 

“I hate to be the one asking this, but when are you coming back to NYC?”

 

“I don’t have to go back unless I want to, Rhodey said he’ll take care of finding me a job that I can from here… so…”

 

“So, you’re staying,” Bucky said smiling, causing Steve to turn to admire him and steal another kiss from him.

 

“If you’ll have me, yes.”

 

“Of course, Stevie,” he bit his bottom lip and then Steve’s. “There’s plenty of room for you on my bed.”

 

“Hmmm, your bed, huh?” he asked, his fingers tracing random lines on Bucky’s thighs, lips turning into a smirk.

 

“Well, you can use the guest room or the couch, but since you love me so much…” Bucky joked, sitting straight on his lap again, brushing the back of Steve’s neck with his fingers and skimming their lips, “I thought you could keep me warm at night, what do you think?”

 

“I fully support the idea…” Steve said gripping Bucky’s waist, they kissed again and one naughty tongue asked for the permission that the Alpha accepted, earning a not so muffled moan from both of them.

 

Like if the moment was made to be broken, the baby monitor on the other side of the sofa ringed with a notification, Lucas was awake.

 

“I love him, but he picked such a bad moment to wake up,” Bucky murmured breathlessly, Steve pecked him on the lips and he did the same in return, not really wanting to stop.

 

“We better go inside and get him.”

 

“Then you can test out my bed, you know, see if you like it or not…”

 

“Hmmmm, I had forgotten about your sex drive, Buck.”

 

“But you love it…” he said seductively on his lips, voice low.

 

“You know I do.”

 

“Especially now with that super soldier serum I only got a little taste of… are you going to show me what you can do?”

 

“God, Buck,” Steve licked his lips, got closer to kiss him but Bucky backed up.

 

“Pup’s needs first, then us.”

 

“Pup’s needs first…” he whispered smiling at him.

 

One last kiss under the stars sealed the deal and the happy couple entered the apartment to attend their pup… and test the bed in the master bedroom.

 

__ … __

 

The next morning Bucky woke up thanks to his alarm going off at 7:00 am. He hated mornings, he had never been a morning person. But mornings were definitely more enjoyable when there was a pair of soft lips kissing his shoulder slowly, an Alpha scenting him while his strong arms held him by the waist, their legs intertwined and hearts beating like one.

 

“You stayed…” Bucky said smiling lazily.

 

“I’m home, Buck and I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” He answered in his ear, voice raspy and happy.

 

Bucky smile grew bigger and his body moved back to get closer to Steve if that was even possible. A simple thought invaded his mind a minute later while the scent of Steve filled his nostrils —and entire bedroom— beautifully.

 

“Stevie, I have one condition for you…”

 

“Yeah? What is it, baby?” he asked in the same voice as before, Bucky’s couldn't stop himself and moaned at how sexy he sounded. Besides, the kisses on the neck were working wonders on his humor and bringing back memories from a couple of hours ago when he had felt them everywhere on his body. "Buck?" Steve asked again at the silence.

 

"Hmmm, you keep kissing my neck and it's distracting me."

 

"Want me to stop, then?" he suggested, moving from his spot and climbing over Bucky, making sure to drag his teeth in the sensitive skin to where the neck meets the shoulder, making him shudder instantly. 

 

"I will probably kill you if you do," Steve chucked and settled between his Omega's legs, moving up his kisses to his beautiful face. 

 

"I love you, Buck."

 

"I love you too, jerk," Bucky said with his hands on Steve's cheeks. "And I'll love you even more if you grow back the glorious beard you had."

 

A not so loud laugh -to avoid disturbing Lucas- was the answer Bucky got, along with a "Your wish is my command, baby," and that was enough to make him smile and kiss Steve on the lips, thinking about how much he loved this man. And his beard, of course, the one Bucky was going to enjoy, very, very much once it came back, he knew Steve was going to make sure of that, because this time, he was staying.


	6. I'll always stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oi galerinha! The last chapter for this story is here!!!!!! I hope you all enjoyed it and if you're actually reading this, let me tell you that there is going to be an extra chapter soon! 🙈🙊
> 
> Bom, have a happy reading and a nice day!
> 
> Fab.

_“If you ask me I will stay, I will stay_

**_I’ll always stay_ ** _”_

 

 

Since the day Steve promised he wasn’t leaving, he lived up to his word. He moved to Birnin Zana and got the job of commanding the Avengers’s missions on the East because he was living on that side of the world, and also adapted to his new life with his Omega and their pup. Bucky and Steve bonded not long after that, and Bucky rocked his bite mark by pulling his hair up in a ponytail for months. Steve also brought the beard back, and the reaction it got on Bucky went straight to him by their bond, sometimes making him blush out of nowhere.

 

Slowly the apartment was filled with framed pictures of the three of them together, traveling around the world and Wakanda, enjoying their lives like they had promised to each other in their firsts stages of relationship in the past.

 

But the apartment didn’t just get new framed photos and memories, it got new family members along the years, too. Lucas became a big brother after his second birthday. His little brother, Khuselwa Galen Rogers-Barnes didn’t look like him and his dada, he looked like his daddy, with gray eyes and dark hair. It took him a few weeks to get used to the new pup, but when he did, he was his personal protector.

 

The same thing happened with his first little sister, Bukelwa Sarah, the difference was that this time two-year-old Galen stepped in for the job as well. She looked like his dada, too, but instead of having blue and green blankets like Galen had had, hers were all pastel pink, blue and purple.

 

It took Steve and Bucky three kids, to make them move to a bigger place on the outskirts of town, and the fourth was welcomed a short time posterior to the moving. That time, they had agreed on adopting a boy, Jahid Samuel, that had been born the same day as their precious Lucas but in a less fortunate environment in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bucky’s team had rescued him from an armed group that trained children for war, he was the only boy that survived thanks to the vaccines he had gotten at a younger age. Following Bucky’s discovery that the kid’s parents were dead, he consulted with Steve if he would like to adopt him and he, of course, said yes. They had a few dates to see if he was comfortable with his future siblings and parents, the adoption papers were done and signed during Sarah’s pregnancy, and Jahid was finally home when Sarah was a couple of weeks old. 

 

Steve and Bucky had help from their Wakandan friends to learn how to take care of Jahid’s curly hair, to teach him about his culture and adjust him to the normal kid life he deserved, playing with toys instead of guns. Luckily for all of them, the boys took him in immediately like they had done on the previous dates, and like if it was a condition to being a Rogers-Barnes boy, he was also highly attached to Sarah, so let’s say she gained the third bodyguard of her short life.

 

Because of the stress of having two four-year-olds, a two-year-old and a six-month-old baby was taking over Bucky, Steve took him for a romantic getaway. They spent a few days in Turks & Caicos, relaxing, swimming, sleeping in, talking about their kids and obviously, having loud sex. Then they traveled to Paris, one of their favorites cities for a little tourist fun. During their last night in the city of lights, while walking hand in hand on the Alexandre III Bridge with the sparkling Eiffel Tower on the background, Steve got down on one knee.

 

“ _Would you be till the end of the line with me? Will you marry me, Buck?”_ Bucky cried with the biggest smile on his face and answered the awaited "yes!" that Steve wanted to hear, to then kiss him tenderly and admire the ring his future husband had put on his finger. 

 

Sam and Wanda were taking take of their kids back in Wakanda, and they both screamed and jumped off the floor at the ring and the meaning of it. Shuri and Nakia couldn’t contain themselves either, making Ramonda rush in concern, to then hear her scream and get them crushed on her arms. When they told T’Challa he had congratulated them with short hugs and a big smile, until they noticed Okoye sniffing behind him.

 

 _“I’m so happy for my favorite white boys, it was about time!”_ she had said hugging them at the same time.

 

They got married in their garden, a small ceremony with their closest friends and their pups in the front row. They both cried and after waiting for that moment their whole lives, it wasn’t a surprise but it was still romantically cute. Their guests cried, too, even Sam, Fury and Happy, it didn’t matter how hard they tried to deny it. Peter finally got to see them kiss and had aaaw’d so loud that MJ and Aunt May had slapped him in the leg.

 

As they were born on the same day, Lucas and Jahid, or Sammy as he liked being called, they celebrated their birthdays together. They turned 6 years old surrounded by their school friends, their favorite uncles and aunties, their siblings and their loving parents. A week later, while they played outside with the most normal gift Carol could find in space —a soccer ball— and Bucky did some work on his computer, he felt it, the fast _thump thump thump_ inside him. He covered his face with his hands, smiling and biting his lip. Steve went crazy happy at the news, he was over the moon and started to hope for another girl.

 

At their fourth pregnancy, fifth kid announcement Sam had said, _“Damn boys! Do I have to remind you what condoms are?”_ But then he was the one crying again when Celiwe Natalia was placed on his arms, small and blond wrapped on her yellow blanket, staring at uncle Sam with her beautiful gray eyes.

 

If you thought there were enough kids for Steve and Bucky, you were wrong. They adopted another girl right before Nat’s second birthday. She was Galen’s age, 4, and was left by her mom’s neighbors in an orphanage after she died and nobody could take care of her. She was a beautiful dark-skinned girl with green eyes, named Folami by birth, and taken into the Rogers-Barnes family as Folami Pax.

 

In conclusion, Bucky and Steve’s life was busy, but it was busy with happiness and treasured moments. It was busy with the six kids they loved very dearly and couldn’t imagine living without them. It was busy with watching them grow up, become amazing little people that one day was going to make a difference in the world, their pups, and like Steve called them, their volleyball team. That was all they have always wanted, family, marriage, stability, a normal life. And they were so lucky and had given so much to the world, that they had gotten what they had ached for. 

 

__ … __

 

This one particular day felt like a deja vu to Steve. It was a Saturday and Nat’s 4th birthday, consequently, the house was full of people. All of the members of the Avengers were there celebrating with their little niece, including Nat’s favorite aunties, Carol and Nebula, and her favorite uncles, Sam and T’Challa.

 

The sun was shining bright thanks to the Wakandan spring, the entire garden of the Rogers-Barnes residence was decorated for the occasion with tables and balloons, games, everything with the theme Nat had chosen: Captain Marvel. Everything was gold, red and blue, and the birthday girl was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that resembled the suit.

 

Kids were running around everywhere, some were playing soccer, others playing hide and seek and others were swimming in the ball pits. Stephen had lost a bet against Wong and was making balloon animals for some other kids, while he filmed and laughed with Scott. The weather was perfect and the grown-up guests were enjoying the food, the refreshing drinks and chatting, remembering battles and missions between laughs. The ones told by the Guardians had everyone cracking up, especially the ones including Thor and Quill disagreeing and making a mess, Rocket, Bruce and Groot failing to help, and Nebula and Gamora fixing said mess.

 

Steve and Peter were playing soccer with some kids at the moment, rotating between being the referees or goalkeepers, Sam, Happy, Morgan and Shuri were also playing with them and the game was tied. Bucky watched them from afar, sipping on his iced water and talking to Pepper, Maria, and Gamora. The rest of them had taken over the biggest ball pit and were taking dumb photos of themselves and throwing balls at each other. Bucky also saw Nat being carried on T’Challa’s shoulders and smiled, his little girl was laughing, happy and enjoying her day.

 

Then the alarm on his Kimoyo Bead dinged and he excused himself to get inside the house. One of the rooms on the first floor had its door semi-closed and there was sound coming out of it. Bucky walked faster and smiled when he entered, the youngest pup of the family was on his back in the crib, whining softly for his dad.

 

“Hi pretty girl, hi you cute little thing,” he cooed her while taking her out and placing her on his arms. “I know, I know you’re hungry, oh, you’re always so easy to please, huh?” Bucky whispered watching how she calmed down the second she found her food on his chest.

 

Having and breastfeeding four kids could make anyone believe that Bucky was used to the idea of watching the pup nursing, but it never got old to him. Every single time had been different and special, just like it was with her precious Akhona Rebecca, that was looking at him like he held the world with her blue eyes and a slight smile on her cute pouty lips. To everyone, she still looked like an adorable potato, for Bucky she was going to resemble himself with Steve’s eyes, she had a lot of brown hair after all.

 

Steve and Bucky had never said they were “closing the baby factory”, however, everyone else thought they had done it when Nat arrived, so the fifth pregnancy was a big surprise, and that time, Sam did send them a huge package of condoms they had to hide from the kids. Then again, he was a crying baby once he got the opportunity of meeting the latest addition of the family.

 

The kids had been super excited at their new sibling and thankfully, they tried to help with house chores, or no making disturbing noises when she slept. Bucky and Steve adored them, not only for that of course, their kids were their biggest pride and joy, their dream came true.

 

Bucky was looking out the window, watching the party and talking to Becs about having to go downstairs to sing happy birthday to her sister, and he was so focused on her princess, he didn’t notice Steve watching him from the door. He even jumped at the sight when he turned around.

 

“Rogers, you gotta stop doing that! I got seven pups to take care of, I can’t die because of a heart attack!” Steve laughed walking inside and putting his hands on Bucky’s waist.

 

“Becs says you’re overreacting, isn’t he, my pretty lady? Yes, he is, daddy is overreacting!” he said in his baby voice, eyes soft for her daughter, he lowered his head to kiss her cheek and smiled at his husband.

 

“Daddy is serious!” he laughed and then accepted Steve’s kiss, “you’re a punk, Steve, stop scaring me like that.”

 

“I’m sorry, Buck,” he answered sincerely, “I won’t do it anymore.”

 

“You’re sleeping on the couch if you do, you hear me?” they both snorted at the empty threat and kissed again, Becs did a sound for not being the center of attention anymore. “Oh, baby girl, you need to get used to seeing me kissing your dada, we’ll be doing it for a long time.”

 

“Oh my God, please let’s not let her get the Galen and Nat syndrome,” Steve said with fear, remembering how upset the pups got if they saw them getting affectionate. At age 4, Galen would scream and separate them to hug Bucky and not let him go for hours, and the same with Nat, just that she kept Steve prisoner until she fell asleep. The sleeping situation didn’t help either, both pups made sure to sleep with them so they couldn’t do it pressed together, and it took them a couple of months to stop the habit and luckily it happened with two years of difference.

 

Lucas and Sammy were the ones that helped them with Galen, making their younger sibling have sleepovers in their room and keeping them entertained to make them go to bed alone. And Pax and Galen helped with Nat.

 

Bucky still remembered how he found Steve crying on the door of Sammy’s bedroom after a night of sleeping together, seeing their six pups all sleeping peacefully with the mattresses on the floor, blankets and pillows mixed, knowing that that was the reason they had a normal night of sleep.

 

 _“They are just so loving, so pure, and so cute,”_ he had cried while Bucky hugged him, smiling and rubbing his back.

 

_“Yes, they are, baby… they are.”_

 

“We’ll try, Stevie, and if not, get ready to sleep on the couch with her, I’m sleeping on my bed,” he said petting him on the shoulder, Becs let go of Bucky’s nipple and he transferred her to his dada’s arms to take care of the burping situation.

 

Bucky picked a pink dress for her to wear and while they were changing her, someone yelled from somewhere.

 

“Guys! Are you in here?” Hope’s voice asked, she appeared to be close.

 

“We’re here!”

 

“Nat wants to blow the candles now!” said May, apparently they were downstairs.

 

“We’ll be right down!” Steve answered smiling, Bucky was doing cute faces to their daughter while he put a white bow on her head and he felt like the luckiest man in the world, for the pup in his arms and the man that had spent 8 months getting her ready to be born.

 

In the garden the cake was already on the principal table, it had five floors with the colors of Carol’s suit and Nat’s name with a golden candle at the top. All the women immediately surrounded Steve to coo Becs, Nat was currently with Nebula, that was carrying her bridal style to the table, smiling at her and making her believe she was going to drop her, earning loud laughs from her.

 

Nebula left Nat standing on a chair behind the cake and Carol lighted up the candle with her fingers, just in time when everybody started to sing happy birthday. Steve’s arms were occupied to clap, but he sang out loud for his Munchkin, his face almost hurting of how much he was smiling. Sam led the cheering that followed the end of the song and Nat blew the candle. Bucky was the first to hug her and kiss her like there was no tomorrow, telling her how much he loved her with tears on his eyes. The brothers and sisters were next and Steve took the opportunity to go to Bucky and gently wipe his tears of happiness.

 

The moment that felt most like a deja vu, was when he placed Becs back on his daddy’s arms and he took Nat on his own, throwing her into the air as he did when she was a baby, kissing her cheeks and hugging her in the end.

 

“Dadaaaaaa, you’re embarrassing me!”

 

“I don’t care, you’re my little munchkin and I love you so, so, so much,” he said repeating the kisses, Nat laughed and screamed again because her siblings came back for a family hug.

 

“Family portrait!” Sam exclaimed excitedly.

 

The Rogers-Barnes got together like if Sam’s words were a command and they all smiled at the camera that MJ was holding, she had been the designated photographer of the team for years and was always glad to travel to visit and capture those great family moments. Nat was used to having a thousand pictures taken because all birthdays had a lot of guests, and fortunately it wasn’t hard to laugh or smile when your friends and family were there or when uncle Loki transformed into his dada to give orders to uncle Thor about how to take pictures with his own phone.

 

The residence had a mini rain forest that Steve and Bucky made sure to keep clean so the species living there could do it comfortably and the kids could play during spring or summer when it was too hot. And that’s exactly what they were doing, playing hide and seek between the trees. Galen was the one seeking, and while the rest of the kids ran to hide, Nat was trying to climb a tree to be impossible to find.

 

“Hey there! Need any help?” Steve asked from behind her, she was clearly struggling with the trunk she had chosen to climb, both hands keeping her a few feet from the ground and unable to just let go.

 

“Yes dada, please!” she said without turning around, waiting for him to pull her to his shoulders for her to go higher.

 

“Ok, what do I do?”

 

“Hmmm, help me put my feet on your shoulders, as usual?”

 

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” he said and proceeded to put his shoulders beneath her, Nat took impulse from the new support and reached the top a few seconds later.

 

“Thank you dada, Galen is never going to find me!”

 

“You’re welcome, Nat.”

 

“Do I get another piece of cake if I win? Because I’m gonna win!” she celebrated looking down but not finding him there, he had moved to the side and the leaves didn’t allow her to see him.

 

“Yeah, yeah, sure, all the cake you want.”

 

“Are you gonna leave, Dada? Galen is going to find me if he sees you here!”

 

“Don’t worry, I gotta go kiddo, good luck with the game!” he said lively.

 

Nat’s eyebrows furrowed at the nickname, she was munchkin, not kiddo. She didn’t give it too much thought though and quickly concentrated on finding a better position to not fall and to not be seen. She ended up winning, obviously, but only because the pups were so worried they couldn’t find her, that had asked Wanda for help.

 

 

The sun started to set and with that, Nat’s friends from kinder were slowly picked up by their parents or nannies, as well as Bucky’s friends from the Hatut Zeraze with their pups left, leaving the rest of the guests to have dinner. The tables were rearranged to make long one with seats for everybody and another one for the pups at the side, and once the talking began and the food arrived, everyone lost track of time.

 

It was 22:57 when Bucky and Steve were helped to take the plates to the kitchen andMJ and Peter left, followed by Happy and May, the Asguardians of the Galaxy —name that Quill hated but was still to speak up because Thor’s eyes were distracting according to him—, the rest of the Avengers with Fury and Maria, and the Wakandan Royal Family.

 

The pups were changed into comfy pajamas and decided to watch a movie in the spacious living room before going to sleep. Steve was there with them while Bucky nursed Becs upstairs, and he couldn’t help but smile and take a picture of all his kids seated on the big couch, speaking, laughing and trying to pick a movie.

 

“Ok, ok, what are we watching today?”

 

“The girls voted for The Lion King!” Sammy said handing him the remote.

 

“Uh, are we going to sing along? Please, dada can we sing along?” Sarah asked next to him, with a big bowl of popcorn on her legs.

 

“I don’t think so, your little sister is going to sleep any time soon and we don’t want to wake her up,” he said kissing her hair, Pax snuggled on his other side and he took her to bring her closer, also kissing her curly hair with a smile.

 

Sammy and Lucas were sharing a blanket in a corner, Galen was almost asleep beside them and Nat was following the same path on the opposite corner of the couch. The lights were turned off and Steve selected the movie on Netflix, grabbing a blanket that was on the backrest and throwing it over himself and Pax. Sarah had left the bowl abandoned and moved to Nat’s space to take the last blanket, making Steve’s heart melt when he saw her covering her little sister with it.

 

The remaining awake pup’s feet were moving with “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” when Bucky’s silent steps came down the stairs. Steve smiled at him noticing he was carrying Becs and opened his available arm for him to snuggle with him.

 

“Couldn’t put her to sleep, she’s being a fussy lady,” he whispered to not disturb the movie, placing her on his chest and thanking him for extending the warm fabric to him.

 

“Maybe the background noise will distract her,” Steve suggested and made kissy noises to her, she sighed and closed her eyes with a tiny smile.

 

“I’m surprised that Nat is sleeping though, thought she was going to be sick with all the cake she ate.”

 

“Yeah, apparently that’s on me, she told me that I told her she could eat all she wanted if she won the hide and seek thing, but it wasn’t me.”

 

“It was probably Loki, I’m gonna kill him next time he does that.” Steve shook his head laughing and then moved it along with the song. “Let every creature go for broke and sing, let’s hear it in the herd and on the wing,” Bucky sang quietly.

 

“It’s gonna be King Simba’ finest fling,” Sammy sang along.

 

“Oh, I just can’t wait to be king!” Lucas and Sarah sang, Sammy and Bucky joined the last sentences with Simba and Pax’s laugh was muffled on Steve’s chest, she was shy and the only movie she would sing along to was Frozen, exclusively when her dada was dressed up in his Ana costume so she could be Elsa. The pictures and video of the first time that happened were uploaded to Bucky’s Instagram and they almost broke the internet.

 

 

Steve was the last man standing by the end of the movie, Simba was climbing the Pride Rock at the moment he passed Becs to his chest, securing his daughters to his chest, then logged out of Netflix, leaving the tv on with a nature documentary playing. He moved a hand to his shoulder to caress Bucky’s hair because his head was resting there and tried to wake him up.

 

“Babe, the pups are sleeping, I’m gonna take them to their rooms,” he murmured and tried to move, but Bucky wrapped his arms around him tighter with a whine.

 

“No, stay here,” he answered without even opening his eyes and putting a leg over Steve’s left thigh, “stay is good.”

 

Steve nodded even though Bucky couldn’t see him, kissed his forehead lovingly and whispered assuringly, “of course, Buck, I’ll always stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Titles inspired by the song "Stay" by Miley Cyrus. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr! /nonotwithoutyoubuck


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